


Late Night

by 002peach



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mentions of Death, Post Season 2, lil bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 14:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21181082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/002peach/pseuds/002peach
Summary: A short conversation under the stars, and the fragility of a new friendship.





	Late Night

“Before you leave on your mission, you have to write up a will. Make a place to put all your possessions, make your rounds with everyone you want to see before you go. But it’s not really a ‘see you later type’ thing- you have to assume from the beginning you’ll never see them again.” 

They laid flat on their backs beside each other on a grassy patch, looking up at the stars. They shined brighter than Callum had ever seen before in his life. This patch of the forest was so dark, it made for a decent rest stop after a full day of foraging before the search for the next cave to settle in the for the night. The sound of crickets ( _ were these crickets? _ Another question about Xadia’s flora and fauna to tuck away for later) was so dense, Callum had to scoot over closer to Rayla to hear her, her voice just above a whisper, on the off chance unwanted visitors were creeping by. 

“That sounds so…”

“It’s necessary. You can’t really be afraid of death if you already declare yourself dead. Going through these motions to supposed to solidify yourself mentally, I guess. I heard one of my teammates even say his family held a funeral for him, and he stood there and watched the whole thing. It’s a little morbid, but I think things like that give them peace. A lot of them don’t really get to see your family at all once they join the ranks, so this is all they kind of have after a while. A final goodbye.”

There was a pause between them. Callum’s hands fiddled with the end of his scarf, a question heavy on his tongue that he decided might be better to hold back. But as if she read his mind, she answered.

“At that point, my parents weren’t around anymore. So I gave all my possessions to Runaan.”

He glanced over at her, watching her gaze steady towards the sky. “Runaan…”

“The elf you both met, before we left.” Another pause. “His husband took mine and his possessions. It was kind of pointless to hand it all over to him, since you know, he was actually comin’- but it was more the gesture that mattered, I guess.” 

“Is- is he like an uncle or-“

“No, no blood relation. Just the one I spent the most time with in my youth, aside from my parents before. He was tough, but he taught me everything I know. I was grateful to him. It made the most sense to me to have my last goodbye be to him.” 

He realized he could, and probably should, leave it at that. This was maybe the most personal Rayla has ever gotten with him- the stillness between them that followed all she said felt delicate, and knowing himself, he could all to easily shatter it with an ill-conceived sentiment, an overstepping of boundaries that would make it that there would never be another moment under the stars here like this again. But he and Rayla- they were true friends now. And for how insurmountable their differences seemed, this was a feeling he knew all too well. 

“I don’t mean to...I think maybe you have to take the time to be sad. To just let yourself be sad, you know? It’s hard but, I think it’s really necessary.”

“What makes you think I haven’t already?”

“Rayla, I’m so sorry, I-“

“Ha, I’m kidding, I guess. One day, maybe. But not now. Just...not with all this, you know?”

With that, they fell silent for good. He supposed he couldn’t press the issue too hard- there was a lot of work to be done with his own loss. He decided instead that when that day came, he would have the right words to help.

**Author's Note:**

> found this in my docs and decided to clean it up a bit! The summary has to be the most dramatic one I’ve ever written lmao


End file.
